Four Duck seniors shoot for epic’ finish to their home season

Ryan Thorburn @rgduckfootball

Friday

Feb 28, 2014 at 12:01 AM

Danielle Love is 22 years old.

Right now that number feels different to the seniors in the Oregon women’s basketball program — Love, Chynna Miley, Laura Stanulis and Ariel Thomas — than for most of the spectators who will cheer the Ducks on tonight against No. 20 Arizona State at Matthew Knight Arena.

“We’re just old,” Love said. “We’ve been here for four years, Laura five (years). We just know what to expect with the trials and tribulations of a long season. We’re able to hold each other down, hold the rest of the team down, get us all centered, and that’s just so important.”

Paul Westhead, a youthful 75, is relying on his hardened elder stateswomen to help the Ducks end their current five-game losing streak and perhaps gain some steam ahead of next week’s Pac-12 tournament in Seattle.

“They’re kind of the guts of the team,” Westhead said of Love and Thomas, who have been fixtures in the starting lineup since they were freshmen. “They’re terrific kids, they’re good players and they’re great team players.

“If you’re going to have somebody for four years, I wouldn’t mind having them for four years.”

Stanulis, who received a medical hardship after suffering a knee injury five games into last season’s 4-27 nightmare, provides a steady hand off the bench. Miley is a popular role player who has appeared in 53 games during her career.

After tonight’s game against the Sun Devils, the seniors will play their final home game on Sunday against Arizona.

“It has gone by really fast,” Thomas said. “It’s crazy to think I was a freshman at one point playing at Mac Court, and now I’m getting ready to play on my senior night. … It’s going to definitely be memorable.

“I’m trying not to be a sap yet, trying to stay in the moment and take it one day at a time.”

With one week left in the regular season, only the No. 1 seed (Stanford) and No. 12 seed (Arizona) have their spots set at the conference tournament.

The Ducks (13-14, 4-12), currently 10th in the standings, need a sweep to get their overall record back over .500.

Oregon’s only conference road win was at Arizona (84-72), which preceded a 97-94 loss at Arizona State on Feb. 2.

“I think our kids have played hard. I think we’ve had some good wins, some tough losses,” Westhead said. “The Arizona State game being an example. You’re never proud of losing, but I was proud of the way our kids played.

“Sometimes your approval rate for how your team plays isn’t always in the win column.”

The Sun Devils (22-6, 11-5) are in position for a top-four finish and an opening-round bye at the Pac-12 Tournament. Arizona State’s top seven scorers average between 10.9 and 7.2 points per game.

“They don’t want to run with us,” Love said. “They play up-tempo defensively. If we can push it faster, our fast breaks beat them every time.”

Oregon had a 15-10 edge in fast-break points and shot 46.4 percent from the field at Arizona State. Chrishae Rowe led the offensive attack for the visitors with 39 points, but the Sun Devils shot 59.5 percent in the second half while outscoring the Ducks 61-53.

Closing out games has been an issue for Westhead’s team all season. Washington State scored 44 points over the final 10 minutes during a 108-88 victory over the Ducks last Sunday.

“I personally hate losing, and I know my teammates do as well,” Love said. “Just to win (these two games) would be epic.”

Alleyne still chasing Pac-12 rebound record

Jillian Alleyne broke the Oregon season record for rebounds last week against UCLA, but the Pac-12 mark still belongs to Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike (466, 2012-13).

The conference had not updated the record book to include Ogwumike’s mark. Alleyne, the NCAA’s leading rebounder this season (15.7 rpg), has 423 rebounds with at least three games remaining in her sophomore season.

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